She went to the doctor and told him her problem.

　　"I'm not at all surprised, "he said."It's clear what your problem is."

　　He examined her and then gave her some advice.

　　"If you don't do what I say, Mrs.Parker，" he said, "you will have a heart attack.It could kill you."

　　Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor's.She knew that she had to take his advice but that it would not be easy and it would take time.

　　The next day she went shopping.The first shop she went into was a butcher's shop(肉铺)．

　　"I'd like ten pounds of steak(牛排), please，" she said.

　　"Certainly, madam，" the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak.He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale (天平)．

　　"That's just under ten pounds，" he said.

　　"That's big enough，" Mrs.Parker said.

　　The butcher worked out the price.

　　"At $4.99 a pound that will$49.50, please.Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces for you？"

　　"Oh, I don't want to buy the meat，" Mrs.Parker said.

　　"If you don't want to buy it，" the butcher replied angrily, "why did you ask me to get it for you？"

　　"My doctor told me that I am overweight and have to lose ten pounds.I wanted to see what ten pounds of flesh looked like."

　　【解题导语】　本文是一个笑话，讲述了Ellen Parker看医生，医生给出建议减肥10磅，然后去肉店看十磅肉是多么大。

　　5．The reason why Ellen Parker visited the doctor is that________．

　　A．she had had a heart attack

　　B．she had a problem with her health

　　C．she was unhappy about her weight

　　D．she could not sleep well

　　解析：选B。推理判断题。由第一段可知Ellen Parker去看医生的原因是因为她的健康状况出了问题。

　　6．Parker asked for ten pounds of steak because ________．

　　A．she wanted to buy some for dinner

　　B．she wanted to lose weight

　　C．her doctor had told her to eat steak

　　D．she wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like

　　解析：选D。推理判断题。根据最后一段可知Ellen Parker 只是想看看10磅牛排看起来什么样，她要减掉10磅肉。

　　7．What was Ellen Parker's real problem?

　　A．She ate too much steak.

　　B．She weighed too much.

　　C．The doctor did not know.

　　D．She could not walk very quickly.

解析：选B。推理判断题。根据医生的建议减肥，可知问题是因为她太重了。